Konoha's Six Ninja Swordsmen Hidden in the Ash
by SpectreShepard
Summary: During the first shinobi world war, Tobirama Senju created a special division of the ANBU corps known as the Six Ninja Swordsmen Hidden in the Ash. Their leaders have consisted of Tobirama Senju, Sakumo Hatake, Minato Namikaze, and now Kakashi Hatake. This is the story of Naruto Uzumaki, who was adopted by Kakashi and trained to take his father's place within this legendary group.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Konohagakure – Three Months after the Kyubi Attack

It was around six in the morning and it was a peaceful 73 degrees in the forest that made up the hidden village known as Konohagakure. Three months ago, the villagers and the ninja would be just starting their days, but ever since the attack three months ago there had been construction going on nearly nonstop. This attack had come from the Legendary Kyubi.

The Kyubi had somehow been summoned directly within the walls of this great village and had immediately started bringing truth to the rumors of its legendary abilities. It was said that the Kyubi could topple mountains and create tsunamis with the mere flick of one of its tails and after the level of destruction that the beast had wreaked upon them, many of the villagers and ninja of Konohagakure believed every bit of it.

They all knew that they had gotten off lucky. Even the people who had lost loved ones had known that. They could have all just as easily been killed. However, that was not to be, if their Hokage had anything to say about it. Minato had somehow teleported the mighty beast away from the village and had defeated the beast at the cost of his own life.

Of course, that was what the lower level ninja and all of the villagers were told. In all truth, Minato Namikaze and a five other ninja had fought the beast with all of their strength and skill. This group was known as the Six Ninja Swordsmen of Ash and Minato was the group's leader.

The Six Ninja Swordsmen of Ash had been around since the birth of Konohagakure. It had been created as a secret unit that would join together during times of great need and dire situations. Their mission was to be the keen blade that was thrust into their enemy's heart during war or the shield to protect their village and hokage during an attack.

Tobirama had lead an earlier generation of the group during the first shinobi world war. Sakumo Hatake had led the group after the Second Hokage's fall and before his own suicide. Minato had taken over the leadership of the group after Sakumo's suicide and had led during the third shinobi world war.

In the end, even this legendary group had been unable to completely kill the beast and as a result had to seal it away. So Minato did the only thing that he could. He utilized the Fuinjutsu: Reaper Death Seal and sealed away a portion of the Kyubi's chakra. He then went on to seal the rest of the Kyubi within a newborn baby. That baby was his newborn boy, Naruto Uzumaki.

So at the same time that all of the villagers and a vast majority of the ninja were working nonstop to repair the damage that had been wrought by the Kyubi three months past, there was a secret meeting going on about a hundred feet below the surface. It was being held in one of the most secure areas of Konohagakure, the ANBU Headquarters, specifically the headquarters of the ANBU Subdivision known as the Six Ninja Swordsmen of Ash.

So now the remaining five members were about to meet in their headquarters to discuss two things. First was the leadership of the group. Since Minato had died to seal the beast away, that left the group without a leader for the first time in almost ten years. The second was the position of the sixth ninja swordsmen of ash.

One of the five members was a grey haired man who wore a dark blue long sleeved shirt and a matching pair of pants. He also wore a leaf flak jacket. The bottom half of his face is covered with a grey mask and his forehead protector was slung over his left eye. This man's name was Kakashi Hatake.

Another of the five members was a man that was broader in the shoulders than Kakashi. He wore the same kind of clothing, minus the face mask. He wore his forehead protector on his forehead like most shinobi and had thick and short brown hair. His name was Asuma Sarutobi.

The third member wore clothing that was nothing like that of the two before her. She wore a combination of black and grey body armor. She had waist length and straight purple hair. Also, you couldn't see any of her face as she was adorning a cat ANBU mask. Her name was Yugao Uzuki.

The fourth member wore the same clothing as that of Kakashi and Asuma, again minus the face mask. This man also wore his forehead protector proudly on his head. He had shoulder length grey hair that was held in a ponytail. He was also sporting a long scar on the right side of his mouth that went from his cheek bone to his chin. This man's name was Hayama Shirakumo.

The last of the five members again wore that same dark blue long sleeved shirt with matching pants and a leaf flak jacket. This man however wore his forehead protector like a bandana over short and unruly brown hair. He seemed to have an ever-present cough. His name was Hayate Gekko.

All of the five ninja were seated at a rectangular shaped table that had six chairs with three on each side. The chair to the right of Kakashi was the only one that was empty. Kakashi looked to his left at Asuma, then across from Asuma to Hayate, to the left of Hayate at Yugao and then to the left of Yugao at Hayama before speaking up.

"Although I really don't want to have to talk about this, we have avoided the issue of electing a new leader for too long. We should have done this the night after the attack." Kakashi said in his normal bored tone.

At his statement, all four of the other four ninja gained looks of discomfort and guilt. They were all still mourning the loss of their last leader and Hokage. The last thing they really wanted to do was decide how they were going to replace him. However, they all had to admit that Kakashi was right. They should have done this a long time ago.

So they all took a moment to organize their thoughts and try to decide just who among them was the most suited to take on the mantle of leadership. There really wasn't much ambition among them since all they truly wanted was to perform their duty to their village. As such, not a single one of them actually wanted the job. However, one of them had to be chosen and it had to be an unanimous vote.

"All those in favor of Kakashi Hatake becoming the leader of the Six Ninja Swordsmen of Ash raise your right arm." Yugao suddenly said to the four ninja that were her companions and fellow swordsmen.

Kakashi watched as Yugao lifted her right arm into the air. The others took a moment to truly think about Kakashi and try to decide if he was the most qualified. Within a few moments, Yugao's arm was joined by that of Hayate's arm. Not long afterwards saw Asuma's and Hayama's arms rise into the air.

"Well, even though I wouldn't wish this job on anybody, I guess I'll take it." Kakashi said as he lazily lifted his right arm into the air because of the vote needing to be unanimous.

"Now that we have that out of the way, we need to decide who will join our ranks." Asuma said in his light and gruff tone as he lit a cigarette that he had just placed between his lips.

"Well, if you all will allow it, I think that I would like to take the young Uzumaki and train him. With time, he should be able to take his father's place among us." Kakashi said as a hint of warmth entered his eyes at the mere mention of his sensei's son.

It didn't take the assembled ninja long at all to decide on that issue. They each raised their right arms in the air to show their support for their leader to train their previous leader's child. After all, a good number of past members had a family member that had been a member before them and had trained them to take over their own position as one of the six swordsmen.

"Good, I'll go and talk with the Hokage about adopting the little guy. I'll contact you all when it is time to meet again." Kakashi said before disappearing in a vortex of leaves via shunshin.


	2. Chapter 1

Okay, I apologize to all of you whom have read my story about how long it took me to get his chapter out. I've been on vacation for the last couple of weeks and lets be honest with each other. Would you write fanfics on vacation or would you sit on a beach and flirt with all of the beautiful ladies that decided you were okay looking enough to talk to. Yeah, I'll agree with you, it has to be the writing fanfics option. Anyways, before I go and lose myself in that thought process, let me present to you chapter 1.

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Chapter 1

**Konohagakure – Nearly Six Years Later**

Kenjutsu is the art of the blade. It is a very advanced technique that few ever master. It is also one of the defining aspects of the ANBU subdivision Six Ninja Swordsmen Hidden in the Ash. Another defining aspect of this legendary group is their ability to hide and strike from within the ash that they create. Both of these aspects are what give them their name.

Konoha's Six Ninja Swordsmen Hidden in the Ash is made up of only the best kenjutsu users in the hidden village. However, a ninja's skill at kenjutsu isn't the only requirement for them to be made a part of this legendary group. Because of the tasks that this group takes upon themselves, they have to be the best of the best in whatever other fields they choose to study in. Also, these ninja were almost always groomed from a young age to join this legendary group.

So, as is customary in the grooming process for future members, our favorite six year old blond boy is being training by multiple sensei in multiple ninja arts. Naruto is being trained by a grey haired pervert in kenjutsu and ninjutsu. This grey haired pervert is none other than Konoha's Kakashi Hatake, the legendary Copy Ninja. Naruto is being trained in taijutsu and physical conditioning by none other than Asuma Sarutobi, the son of the Sandaime Hokage and a former member of the Guardian Ninja Twelve. He is also being taught genjutsu and chakra control by none other than Konoha's resident Genjutsu mistress Kurenai Yuhi.

Since Kakashi and Asuma were both members of the Six Ninja Swordsmen Hidden in the Ash, the presence of the secret group hadn't needed to be revealed to get them to train the boy. However, the same couldn't be said for Kurenai Yuhi. She had outright refused to train a boy who wasn't even a genin at first. It had taken a direct order from the Sandaime Hokage and an explanation regarding the subdivision of ANBU before she had agreed to train Naruto.

For obvious reasons, the many sensei took an allotted amount of time to train Naruto to the best of their abilities in the particular arts that they had decided to teach him before he would be passed onto the next sensei for an allotted amount of time. They would normally get nearly a month at a time to put him through the training that they had outlined for him. Today, Naruto was starting his month long training session with Kakashi.

"Okay, Naruto I want you to practice the kata that I started you on last month." Kakashi said to a six year old blue eyed boy with a mop of spiky and unkempt blond hair.

"Hai sensei." Naruto said towards his current sensei before he unsheathed his katana and began the first sequence to the kata that he had been taught during their last session.

Naruto Uzumaki was at first glance just an average six year old kid. However, if one were to look closer at the boy, they would notice several things that stood out upon inspection. One of course was the six whisker like birthmarks, three on each cheek.

As Naruto began weaving his body and the slightly shortened katana that he held in his right hand through the many kata that Kakashi had made him learn, one whom was observing would be able to glimpse another feature that not many six year old children had. The boy was around four feet tall which was nearly six inches taller than most children his age.

However, those weren't the only things that were different about his body. With his workout in process, the normally loose fitting clothes that he wore would stick to his body because of the sweat and would reveal his toned and chiseled muscles.

Naruto had begun his physical and chakra control training when he was five years old. His advanced regenerative abilities because of his Uzumaki blood and because of the Nine Tailed Foxes chakra that was continually mixing with his own helped him in his physical training tremendously. When you train your body you end up tearing your muscles and they become stronger after healing. So when you pair his physical training with his regenerative abilities, you get a very muscular six year old.

Naruto continued to slowly weave through each of the individual kenjutsu kata for about thirty minutes before picking up the pace. Two hours later, Naruto was flowing through the kata at normal combat speeds. The boy had a true talent for the blade.

"Okay, that's enough for kenjutsu today. Now, I want you to continue your chakra control exercise you began yesterday. I want to see just how well you are progressing under Kurenai's tutelage." Kakashi said as he watched Naruto sheath his katana and start taking a few items out of his bag.

Since Kurenai wasn't a jonin, or even a member of ANBU, Kakashi didn't want to take any chances on Naruto's training, even if the girl was known to possess control over her chakra to the point that it would rival the control belonging to Tsunade Senju with just a little more time and training. Also, he wanted to make sure that Naruto's control was at a certain point before he began training him in ninjutsu.

The chamber that the Six Ninja Swordsmen used as their own training facility was located within the dark recesses of what made up the ANBU Headquarters. It was easily fifty feet from each wall to the wall across from it and the roof was three stories above their heads. The room had a balcony that fully wrapped around the chamber on the second story.

Naruto had progressed rapidly in the chakra control exercises. Not as fast as his physical training by no means, but faster than normal for chakra control all the same. Within six months, Naruto had been able to stick a leaf to any part of his body without conscious effort and keep it there for nearly ten minutes. After six more months of chakra control training, he was able to climb surfaces with his chakra and could also keep himself attached to those surfaces for nearly five minutes.

Kurenai had decided to try and teach Naruto to channel chakra from many different parts of his body before he moved him onto the water walking exercise. Kurenai knew from personal experience that the more experience you get with channeling chakra, the easier and faster you'll get the water walking exercise down.

So now Kakashi watched as Naruto walked up the wall and got to the roof before sitting upside down in the lotus position. He was exuding chakra from his knees and thighs to remain stuck to the roof. Once he was seated firmly on the roof, he began placing leaves on different parts of his body. One went on his forehead. Another one went on each of his elbows. He also placed one on each of his feet.

Naruto lasted nearly three minutes before he lost his first leaf. Another five minutes later he lost his second leaf. However, he was able to retain the remaining leaves before his fifteen minute mark came and he allowed himself to fall. Flipping himself in midair, Naruto applied chakra to his feet and legs so that he could absorb the impact of a three story fall.

After taking about ten minutes to rest, Naruto again scaled the wall and repeated the same process. After the first couple of times, he was able to keep all of the leaves stuck to his body for the entire fifteen minutes. Naruto continued to do this particular exercise for nearly two hours before Kakashi told him to call it a day.

"Come on Naruto, because you are doing so well in your kenjutsu training, I'm going to take you out to Ichiraku's for some ramen." Kakashi said as the boy joined him on the second story balcony and they walked towards the only door in the entire chamber.

When Kakashi noticed the small corners of Naruto's mouth tug upwards, but he refrained from showing any other outward sides of happiness, he couldn't help but wonder how in the world Asuma had been able to temper Naruto's exuberant personality. Originally, Naruto's personality had been so much like his mother's that everyone who knew the two of them could easily see her in the boy. The boy was still naturally happy and carefree, but his personality resembled his father's personality more than his mother's now and everyone who knew him was very thankful for that.

**Konohagakure – Secret ANBU Training Facility – Nearly A Year Later**

Thump and crack were the two sounds that resounded inside the secret training facility within the ANBU headquarters before a seven year old blond boy was launched through the air from a blow to the jaw and impacted with the wall nearly ten feet away. Pulling himself from the crater that his impact had created in the wall, Naruto relocated his recently dislocated jaw and sent a glare towards his sensei.

"Hey, don't give me that look. I told you what would happen until you learned to dodge instead of block." Asuma Sarutobi said after taking a pull on the cigarette that resided between his lips.

"Just you wait, one of these days I'll be able to hit that hard and you'll find yourself crawling out of a crater." Naruto mumbled under his breath to himself, but it seemed that he wasn't quite quiet enough judging from the smirk that now adorned his sensei's face.

"I look forward to the day brat, but until then, DODGE!" Asuma said before disappearing from view and reappearing in front of Naruto with his fist cocked back a second later.

About an hour and ten more craters later found Asuma calling their taijutsu training for the day and having them go through their physical conditioning training. He had Naruto begin by doing several sets of push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, and squats. Afterwards, he had Naruto run twenty laps around the training room.

"You know what; I can't wait to start the academy next year. Even though I'll have to keep training with all of the different regimens you all have set for me, at least I won't have to take your punches anymore." Naruto said after they had finally finished their physical conditioning training for the day.

"That's true, but do you know what is also true? You'll have to sit through hours of boring lectures." Asuma said before releasing a dry chuckle as a panicked looked entered the eye of the tired and sweaty child in front of him.

"Hey, what do you mean lectures. Jiji didn't say anything about lectures. Man, this is just cruel and unusual punishment, that's what this is." Naruto said with a huff at the end before crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"You know, my father would probably try and beat me if he heard me say this, but I have to agree with you on that. Lectures are cruel and unusual punishment. Come on; let's go get some Ichiraku ramen." Asuma said before he and Naruto jumped to the second story ledge and left to start their journey through the subterranean tunnels that make up the ANBU headquarters.

**Konohagakure – Secret ANBU Training Facility – Nearly a Year Later**

Late into the night two people could be found meditating inside the secret ANBU training facility that is reserved for the Six Ninja Swordsmen Hidden in the Ash. One of the two figures was a woman with shoulder length and untamed raven hair. This woman wears a red mesh armor blouse with only the right sleeve visible. Over her blouse she wore broad vine like wraps and she had her arms and upper thighs wrapped in combat tape. Her name is Kurenai Yuhi.

Kurenai lifted her eyelids up and glanced over towards the second person that was sitting in a lotus position next to her. Her vibrant red eyes drank in the image of an eight year old boy with a lean muscular body that was streamlined like that of a runner's body. The boy had a mop of unruly blond spikes that were beginning to cascade in front of his eyes, his ocean blue eyes.

A fond smile rested over her features as her eyes took in the assortment of clothes that adorned his body. He wore black slacks that were taped at his ankles with combat tape and had shin guards strapped over them. Buckled to the shin guards were a pair of black ninja sandals. The boy wore a mesh armor short sleeved shirt that did little to hide his rippling muscles that rippled underneath the mesh whenever he moved. He wore plated and fingerless black gloves on his hands that he now had placed in the ram seal. His name is Naruto Uzumaki.

"Okay, you have proved your chakra control is good enough for me to allow you to use genjutsu. Let's go back down to the floor and I'll show you the hand seals to one of my favorite genjutsu." Kurenai said before allowing herself to fall from the roof of the training facility to land in a chakra enhanced graceful crouch on the ground nearly three stories below her.

They had been sitting in a lotus position on the roof of the training facility for the last twenty four hours as the last test before Kurenai deemed Naruto ready to begin utilizing genjutsu. One had to have excellent chakra control to remain in a meditative state for that period of time while sticking to some kind of surface and it just so happened that she wanted Naruto to have that level of control before teaching him genjutsu.

Once Naruto had allowed himself to fall to the floor and land in a similar fashion to his sensei, Kurenai began lecturing him on one of her personal favorite genjutsu, Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death. She informed him of how this particular genjutsu was suited towards single combat and towards interrogation.

"Now then, the hand seals are the dog, snake, monkey, ox, and tiger hand seals. I'm going to show you the genjutsu, and then I'm going to have you try it." Kurenai said before molding her chakra and flipping her hands through the various seals needed to direct her chakra into her student's cerebral cortex.

"Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death." Kurenai said in a hushed whisper before disappearing into a thin mist.

Now, even though he knew what to expect, Naruto was unable to keep himself from looking around to try and locate his sensei. She had explained to him that this genjutsu worked by allowing the user to disappear from their opponent's senses before a tree would materialize behind the opponent and ensnare them within growing limbs. While the user would in truth be sneaking up behind their opponent, it would appear to the opponent as if they had sprouted from the trunk of the tree before their attack would either kill or incapacitate the enemy.

Suddenly he felt something rough grab him around his ankles, wrists, and his waist and he looked down to see the branches of a large tree wrapping around him. Suddenly he felt the cold and sharp edge of a kunai pressed against his throat and he turned his head a mere fraction to look into the ruby irises of his sensei.

"I don't know if I have ever told you this, but you can be scary sometimes, you know that?" Naruto said as the tree that was holding him disappeared and Kurenai appeared behind him and to his left.

"Just you remember that whenever Kakashi or Jiraiya attempts to turn you into a pervert. Now, mold your chakra like I told you and try to place me under the genjutsu." Kurenai said before backing up a few paces and looking into her student's deep blue irises.

Knowing that he wouldn't really be able to get the feel for the chakra requirements until he had practiced the jutsu enough times, he readily nodded before molding what he felt would be an appropriate amount of chakra and began flipping through the hand seals.

"Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death." Naruto mumbled before he disappeared from Kurenai's sight.

Now, when a genjutsu user masters this particular jutsu, they are supposed to be completely shrouded from their opponent's senses, all five of them. Since Naruto was far from a master of this particular jutsu, he obviously didn't mold the correct amount of chakra and as a result he wasn't able to completely shroud himself from Kurenai.

Although she wasn't able to see him, she was still able to hear him quietly shuffling around her and behind her to her blind spot. Finally, she felt the tree ensnare her within its branches before she felt the keen edge of a katana press against her neck.

"Obviously you have room to improve, but it was a very good first attempt. I am proud to have been able to call you my student and to pass on my art to you. Now, I know that you start the academy tomorrow and that you won't be training underneath us anymore, but remember that if you ever have a need for help that I would gladly lend you my assistance." Kurenai said before cupping Naruto's cheek with her hand.

Over the last several years she had truly gotten to enjoy their training sessions and she knew that she was going to miss them, but he needed to attend the academy if he was going to be a genin. Naruto smiled warmly up into the ruby red irises that were looking at him with such warmth and he couldn't help but feel slightly sad that he wouldn't be training with her anymore.

"I've enjoyed and I appreciate the time you have taken to train me. You'll still show up every now and then, won't you?" Naruto asked hopefully before giving what he had dubbed his puppy eyes.

For reasons that were unknown to him, his puppy eyes had always been able to get Kurenai to cave whenever he had set them upon her. After the first couple of times he had used his secret power on Kurenai, he had the bright idea to try it on Asuma to get the man from hitting him as hard as he normally did when he didn't dodge, but he was only rewarded with deep chuckles before he was launched into another wall. Soon after he learned that his puppy eyes only worked on females. So every time he found himself attempting to get something from a woman he wouldn't hesitate to use his puppy eyes.

When Kurenai saw him turn his puppy eyes on she had to stop herself from clutching the blond to her breast and exclaiming just how cute he looked when he gave her that look. She promised that she would show up every now and then while smiling warmly at the blond boy. Unlike her male counterparts, she didn't normally take Naruto to get Ichiraku Ramen after their training sessions. Instead, she would take him to sample what her close friend Anko called the food of gods, dango.

"Come on, let's go gets some dango." Kurenai said before grabbing his small hand in hers and setting a leisurely walk through the many tunnels that made up the ANBU Headquarters.

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Okay, thanks to all of you who favorited and followed this story. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please leave me a review telling me how you felt, whether you loved it, liked it, hated it, want to kill me, don't want to kill me, it doesn't matter just leave me that review. Just kidding on the killing part. If you truly want to kill me, please don't leave that in a review. Surprise me, because who wants to know how they are going to die. Not me. Just make it quick and painless. Anyways, I digress. Thanks again for reading and reviewing. Till next time.


	3. Notice

Notice

I am sorry to do this to you, all of my faithful readers whom have enjoyed my stories so much. Wow, that sounded as if I was beginning an 'I Quit' notice, didn't it. No, that isn't what this is for. Due to some recent revelations, I have gone through all of my stories and reread them. All of them have certain areas where I feel that they need work and improvement. Maybe this is just the author in me, or maybe I am actually right, who knows. All I know is that I am going to delete all of the chapters posted so far and start rewriting them. I will rewrite my stories one chapter at a time, and will switch between each of my stories once I get a chapter done, so that I can give each and every one of my faithful readers a chance to read something and not neglect certain stories. Most of the content and storyline will remain the same; however, I will be expanding upon certain characters that I realize now I neglected. Certain events that I merely mentioned will now be written about as they happen instead of mere back thought by the characters. So, if you're wondering whether it will be worth going back to reread the chapters that you've already read, your answer is yes. I hope that I don't lose any of you, but if you do decide to drop my story, I'll understand. Also, as a reminder, if you are reading one of my stories, I have several others going on that you might enjoy so go and check them out. I also have a beta for at least one of my stories, and I'll see if they wouldn't mind being the beta for the rest. If they won't the other stories will have to take a slight back burner until I can get the beta for them. Again, I express my desire for you to remain patient and to continue to read my stories. Thanks, as always, for without readers and fans, a writer is a nobody.

Ps. I'll keep this notice up for about a month so that hopefully all of you whom have followed my stories get a chance to see it and aren't confused when you suddenly notice that all of the chapters you had once read are now gone.


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